Space Steel whiskers mimic prey sensors Steel whiskers that mimic the way seals and rats sense prey could one day give planetary rovers the sensitivity they need to explore the shape of strange objects they encounter on their travels. That's the suggestion of Joe Solomon and Mitra Hartmann at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, who have developed delicate whiskers in both … News
Look your dinner in the eye THERE is an old saying that if slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian. Nowadays all we would need to expose the inner workings of abattoirs and factory farms to the public gaze is a few webcams. Then anyone who plans to eat meat and wishes to see how the animals are killed could … Opinion
Life Dr Diet's recipe for health By the time he arrived in London for medical treatment in 1725, George Cheyne was in a terrible state. Headaches racked his brain, and gout blistered his legs in sores until they appeared "burnt almost like the Skin of a roasted Pig", as he put it. Above all, there was his weight, which at times … Features
Life The word: Liverwort HOW do plants get their common names? While their Latin names are the result of a (supposedly) rational and organised system, the everyday names of plants come via a somewhat looser – if not downright mysterious – process. A few months ago in this column we described how the common names of some animals come … Regulars
Feedback Monster monument WE described Gus McNaughton's interest in word pairings at the top of the pages of dictionaries as "unusual" (2 September). It seems we were wrong. Colum Clarke writes to confess that he too has an interest in what he calls "apposite adjacents". He offers a list of his own favourites from the paperback … Regulars